QuickScan: Data Dump February 2024

China’s macro data were mixed in January, but showed some signs of improvement. New household deposits came in lower than in previous years and household loans were robust. While narrow money supply (M1) spiked, this is not uncommon around the lunar new year, and it remains to be seen if the negative gap between M1 and M2 can narrow further. Employment indicators that we are watching continue to paint a more challenging picture. Find out more in this month’s Data Dump.

New household loans were robust in January. While this is a positive, we saw similar abrupt spikes last year that turned out to be short-lived. We would therefore like to see robust borrowing continue for two or three months for further confirmation. As a share of total new loans, household loans remained weak, with the bulk of borrowing still coming from the corporate sector.